Chaeles e



(No Model.)

C. R. CRANE.

HYDRAULIC VALVE POR ELEVATORS AND OTHER APPARATUS..

ed-Juneg, 1885.

f Patent- UNTTT@ STATES PATENT Trice.

CHARLES R. CRANE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGN OR TO CRANE BROTHERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

HYDRAULIC VALVE FOR ELEVATORS AND OTHER APPARATUS* SPECIFICATION forming part/of Letters Patent No. 319,678, dated June 9, 1885.

Application filed February 2G, 1885. (No model.)

Tc @ZZ whom, t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES R. CRANE, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of lllinois, have invented a new and useful Im- 5 provement in Hydraulic Valves for Elevators and other Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more especially to valves which comprise a cylinder and piston IO for controlling the supply of water to and the discharge of water from the operating-cylinders of hydraulic elevators; but the invention is also applicable to similar valves used for controlling the supply of water to or discharge I5 from other machines or apparatus. In such valves thecylinder is frequently provided with a belt surrounding it, from which extends a nozzle or aperture for the passage of water, and communication between this belt and the interior of the cylinder is had through a number of slots or holes, which may be formed in the body of the cylinder or in a brassor other lining tube with which the cylinder is provided. The piston-valve is movable within this cylinder, and by such movement exposes more or less of the slots or holes, and so affords a variable area'for the passage of water. Vhen the valve is used in connection with hydraulic elevators, itis desirable to produce the stopping and starting of the elevator cage or car withoutjar or shock, and to this end the water-apertures around the cylinders have sometimes been made in the form of tapering slits or slots having a double wedge shape. This construction of the water-passages does not, however, accomplish the result to the extent desired; and the object of my invention is to so construct the water openings or passages that the valves, when moved to cover or uncover them,will shut off or let on the water in such a manner as to effect the stoppingvor starting of the cage or car without jar or shock.

To this end my invention consists in the combination, in a hydraulic valve, of a cylinder and a piston-valve working therein, the cylinder being provided around the circumference with series of slots extending lengthwise thereof and made of different lengths, so that the 5c ends of the slots form an irregular line, and

the piston-valve, when moved over them,opens or closes themA one after the other, and not simultaneously, as would be the case were the slots of equal length.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a longitudinal section of a valve embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a transverse section on the plane of the dotted line x x, Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 represents a plan or development of the circumference of the 6o cylinder in astraight plane,or as it would appear if spread out flat.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the valve-cylinder, which may 6 5 be made of cast metal, and which has at one end an inlet, A., for water under pressure and at the other end an outlet, A3, for the passage or exhaust of water after it has performed its function in the machine. This cylinderAalso 7o has a transverse branch or nozzle, A2, which may be connected with the operating-cylinder of the hydraulic elevator or other machine with which the valve is used.

' B designates a piston-valve, whichis fitted 75 t0 slide longitudinally in the cylinder A. This valve has a stem, B, whereby it may be operated by any suitable connections or by means of a controlling-piston fitted to the cylinder and capable of being moved therein by water- 8o pressure. The valve B works through a packing, a, between the Water-inlet A Aand the working-branch A2, and at the opposite end of the valve is a packing, c', which works tightly in the cylinder. The packing a may be held in place by a plate or follower', c2, secured by a stud and nut, ai, to the end of the piston-valve. The working passage or branch Al extends from the belt A2212 which entirely surrounds the cylinder, and which communi.- 9o cates therewith by numerous slots, b, arranged circumferentially around the cylinder and eX- tending lengthwise thereof. These slots may be cast in the cylinder,orthey` may be formed in the brass or other lining, b', fitted therein. 95

From the above description it will be understood that when the Valve is moved to the left of Fig. l, so as to uncover more or less of the slots b, the inlet-passage A will, through these slots, be placed in communication with roo the working-branch A2, and water will be allowed to flow through the valve and operate the cylinder of the elevator. Vhen the valve is moved to the right in Fig. 3, the Workingbranch A2 will be placed in communication through the slots b with the exhaust-outlet A3, and water will be allowed to ow from the operating-cylinder of the elevator to the exhaust through the passage A3.y Asis best represented in Fig. 3, these slots b are of several different lengths, and are so arranged that their ends form an irregular line, and are not coincident in a direction circumferential of the cylinder. I have here shown slots of six different lengths, and they may be arranged in any way desired aslong as the slots at each end form an irregular line. As the piston B is moved to eoveror uncover these slots,it will be seen that they are closed or opened by the piston reaching their ends one after another, or in succession, and they are not opened and closed*simultaneously. When bythe movement of the piston the slots are closed one after another, the current through each slot is diverted as it is closed, and is compelled to change its direction and seek a passage through some of the other slots which are still open; and by this arrangement of slots it has been discovered that the opening and closing of the valve can be performed without any material or injurious shock in starting or stopping the car or cage.

CHARLES R. CRANE.

Witnesses:

C. HALL, FREDK.` I-IAYNEs. 

